The Last One Standing
by Wulphe
Summary: She was ready to die; ready to give up everything she was so that others may live. But something wasn't quite right. My interpretation of the ME3 ending. INFERRED SPOILERS. Fem!ShepXGarrus.


"The paths are open, but you have to choose." The nameless AI stepped aside and stared at her.

First, a moment of hesitation - destruction might allow her to live. Might. So selfish… She was a soldier, ready to die; trained and prepared to face this day. Control would only put her in charge of the next cycle; there to watch as this "chaos" possibly returned. Synthesis was the best option for everyone. Her life had been given to this cause long ago, when she first faced Saren. She was ready.

She walked toward the beam. Something felt so… wrong. Her body felt cold, empty. If she was truly doing the right thing, it shouldn't feel like this. She'd had to make such decisions many times before, but it had never felt like this. Even death had never felt so hollow.

A voice filled her head, "Forgive the insubordination, but your boyfriend has an order for you: Come back alive."

Garrus. She knew what her death had done to him before. He was stronger now though. He would understand. She knew he understood.

"It would be an awfully empty galaxy without you."

She blinked away the tears. This was not the time. He will be ok.

Still, beyond the thought of her personal ties, as she stepped up to the beam and held out her hand, a sinister tone was gripping the air. Air? She turned back to see the boy, facing her without emotion. His voice was so innocent, yet carrying a compassionless message. How... deceptive? Manipulative? That boy…

But why was HE here? This was the boy she had seen die, the boy who haunted her dreams and illusions.

This time, Legion's words seized her mind, "When was the last time you had seen a creator without their mask, Shepard-Commander?"

It was in her mind.

What the HELL was it doing in HER MIND! This boy had come to represent the family she could never have, the life she was denied, the pain of so many losses finally taking its toll on her psyche. And now he appeared before her and tried to convince her to sacrifice everything? Threatening her with the death of so many she'd saved to steer her away from her only chance to finally end THEM.

In a way it was so tempting; the chance to just shrug off the weight on her shoulders and rest. Her body was so battered and heavy.

But everyone had fought so hard, sacrificed so much, to see the destruction of these… machines. These THINGS. And here she was standing on the edge, ready to throw herself away to allow them to continue existing. How did she even get here?

She turned back and limped toward the power conduit. The boy merely blinked in response. As she approached and readied her gun, she turned to him one last time.

"I'll see you in hell, Harbinger."

The shots went off, and before she could absorb what was happening, her vision was engulfed in hot flames and red energy.

"Shepard. Your resistance will be your undoing." The voice in her head now belonged to no innocent.

* * *

><p>Blackness. Nothingness. Is this death? No tunnel, no bright light, no bar with a certain turian waiting to order her drinks? Just nothing. No… She'd died once before.<p>

Light slowly crept in, turning and molding, gaining colors and shape. A leaf, and a tree. The Normandy! They're alive!

"Joker, Garrus!" Shepard called out to them.

Wait. That had come from her own lips. Was she watching them from heaven? Garrus…

"Garrus! Come quick!"

Was that… Tali?

"Shepard! Oh spirits, she's breathing!"

Air filled her lungs. Real air. Her eyes opened and burned from the bright beam towering above her, but suddenly there was a shadow on top of her, lifting and pressing into her. She coughed up blood on his shoulder.

"Garrus?" She managed to spatter his name weakly against the metal armor pressing around her broken body.

"We need to fall back now, Garrus. Grab her and hurry." Tali pressed urgently.

She felt, more than saw, her body shifting painfully. They were falling back again, away from the threatening beam. Back toward the tanks.

"W-what's happening?" Her head was spinning, but consciousness was taking hold and strength was returning to her synthetically enhanced limbs.

"Hammer team was hit hard by Harbinger. You were leading the push. There weren't many survivors." Garrus explained as they moved. He sounded as defeated as she felt.

"The Geth! What about the Geth?"

"The Geth? They're fairing about the same as the rest of us." Tali reported back from ahead of them.

"And the relays?"

Garrus looked down at her pensively, "I - uh. I assume they're the same as usual. Are you ok, Shepard?"

"Never better." The smirk on her lips cracked and bloodied them anew.

As they entered the tank, everyone present wore the same blank, grim expression. These men and women had clearly lost hope.

"Commander Shepard! Send for the med team, stat!" One soldier shouted as Garrus set her down on the hard metal bench.

"Where's Anderson?"

"He… didn't make it. We've been waiting for orders from Hacket, but communications are still down." The soldier averted his gaze.

"What are our orders, commander?" Another equally lost private spoke up from the bench across the narrow vehicle.

"We do the only thing we can do: keep fighting." Shepard turned to Garrus as she spoke, "If only one person is left standing when the last Reaper falls from the sky, we win."


End file.
